Alice

As long as I’ve loved music, there are two mainstream artists whom I have seen in concert almost every year - Trooper and Alice Cooper.

Last night Alice Cooper played at Casino Rama. To say I’m a fan, would be an understatement. I started following him in 1975 at the time of “Welcome to my Nightmare” when the theatrics married rock and roll. It is that combination, (and intense marketing), that I find compelling about rock stars. Maybe more than the actual music.

Classic rock is part of me. I can’t shake my love for it. I’m even digging country music! Yikes!

Here’s last night’s setlist and some thoughts.

The Black Widow - introduced by Vincent Price. Set the tone.
Brutal Planet - tough, angry, industrial song and I never realized how Alice exposes the darkness of Satan’s control.
18 - when people talk about timeless lyrics, I think of this. “I’m in the middle without any plans, I’m a boy and I’m a man”.
Under My Wheels - fun.
Billion Dollar Babies - intro drum beats are amazing!
No More Mr. Nice Guy - my fave Cooper song. “I went to church incognito...”! Ha! When he wrote the song he wasn’t a Christian, which makes the line even more amusing now!
Is it My Body - with the snake. My wife was freaking out.
Halo of Flies - old song. I don’t get it.
I’ll Bite Your Face Off - new song from a new album that sounds more like the Stones than the Stones! Great guitar riffs. It's a keeper. Keef would be proud.
Muscle of Love - no comment
Only Women Bleed - always a pretty song filled with many unfortunate truths
Cold Ethyl - Great music, bad lyrics. I wish he did not sing this song anymore
Feed My Frankenstein - a 12-foot monster was chasing the band around - it was outrageous drama!
Clones - haha! Like Devo. Like new wave. Very un-Alice but fun.
Poison - written just after he became a Christian and it probably goes over the heads of the audience who think "poison" is cool.
Wicked Young Man - interesting what happens to someone who falls into the hands of Satan.
I Love The Dead - theatrical for sure, but I wish he didn’t sing this song.
School’s Out - it may be cliche after all these years, but in concert, it is a killer climax. You can’t sit down! It concludes with Alice flinging his top hat up to the drummer who catches it on his drum stick - and I have never seen him miss!
Elected - He paraded a Canadian flag, and changed the words a bit to be pro-Canadian without mispronouncing the names of our Canadian cities. Nice.
Fire - Jimi Hendrix song. The “character Alice” came off and his huge smile let everyone know, “it’s an act”.

Can’t wait til next year!